Bard College's "3rd Annual Symposium on the Comic Book": Saturday, April 26, 2008

Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY will be hosting this event on Saturday:

Third Annual Symposium on the Comic Book
Saturday, April 26, 2008

Presentation of undergraduate research on graphic literature, exhibition of student comic art, and screening of important comic book film.

Time: 5:30 pm
Location: Olin Building, Room 102
Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504-5000
Contact: bstevens [at] bard.edu, 845-758-7283
[Bard's calendar posting here]

The conference is free and open to the public. Directions to and maps of the campus may be found here. To locate the Franklin W. Olin Humanities Building and Auditorium, visit Bard's Campus Map and Tour page. You even can take a virtual tour: Olin is the third building down in the second column on the left-hand side of the page.

I'd like to thank the conference's student organizers, Jon Gorga and Arla Berman, as well as Dr. Benjamin Stevens of the Classical Studies Program, for inviting me to be a speaker. My presentation, "Comics Scholarship is Not an Oxymoron," will discuss the state of comics scholarship in the U.S., focusing on the wealth of resources for research and study we now have available. I attended the symposium last year, and I'm honored to be a guest this year.

CFP: ICAF / International Comics Arts Forum (May 1; October 9-11)

ICAF (a conference I helped organize for several years) is a most prestigious comics event, and well-worth attending. Note the new venue. (I never did get to attend the sessions at the Library of Congress, sigh...)

The Thirteenth Annual
INTERNATIONAL COMIC ARTS FORUM (ICAF)
October 9-11, 2008
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago

The International Comic Arts Forum invites scholarly paper presentations for its thirteenth annual meeting, to be held at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, from Thursday, October 9, through Saturday, October 11, 2008. The deadline to submit proposals is May 1, 2008 (see below for proposal guidelines and submission information). Proposals will be refereed via blind review.

We welcome original proposals from a variety of disciplines and theoretical perspectives on any aspect of comics or cartooning, including comic strips, comic books, albums, graphic novels, manga, webcomics, political cartoons, gag cartoons, and caricature. Studies of aesthetics, production, distribution, reception, and social, ideological, and historical significance are all equally welcome, as are studies that address larger theoretical issues linked to comics or cartooning, such as image/text relationships. In keeping with its mission, ICAF is particularly interested in studies that reflect an international perspective.

ICAF is proud to be hosted this year by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a leader in art education and a vital part of Chicago's arts community. In order to create a conference program that reaches out to that community and reflects Chicago's rich heritage of comic art, we particularly invite proposals which touch on cartoonists and publications from the city and surrounding region. Chicago is a major hub of American cartooning, the wellspring of a tremendous variety of work: from the political cartoons of John T. McCutcheon and Bill Mauldin, to the pioneering comic strips of the Chicago Tribune, to the seminal underground cartooning in the Chicago Mirror, Chicago Seed, and Bijou Funnies, to the "independent" comics boom of the 1980s, to contemporary alternative comics by Chris Ware and a host of others. In hopes of building a conference that responds to this important heritage, ICAF invites proposals with special interest in comics and cartoons from Chicago and the American Midwest.

PROPOSAL GUIDELINES: For its refereed presentations, ICAF prefers argumentative, thesis-driven papers that are clearly linked to larger critical, artistic, or cultural issues; we strive to avoid presentations that are merely summative or survey-like in character. We can accept only original papers that have not been presented or accepted for publication elsewhere. Presenters should assume an audience versed in comics and the fundamentals of comics studies. Where possible, papers should be illustrated by relevant images. In all cases, presentations should be timed to finish within the strict limit of twenty (20) minutes (that is, roughly eight to nine typed, double-spaced pages). Proposals should not exceed 300 words.

AUDIOVISUAL EQUIPMENT: ICAF's preferred format for the display of images is MS PowerPoint. Regretfully we cannot accommodate non-digital media such as transparencies, slides, or VHS tapes. Presenters should bring their PowerPoint or other electronic files on a USB key or CD, not just on the hard drive of a portable computer. We cannot guarantee the compatibility of our equipment with presenters' individual laptops.

REVIEW PROCESS: All proposals will be subject to blind review by the ICAF Executive Committee, with preference given to proposals that observe the above standards. The final number of papers accepted will depend on the needs of the conference program. Due to increasing interest in the conference, in recent years ICAF has typically been able to accept only one third to one half of the proposals it has received.

SEND ABSTRACTS (with COMPLETE contact information) by May 1, 2008, to Prof. Cécile Danehy, ICAF Academic Coordinator, via email at cdanehy [at] wheatoncollege.edu.

Receipt of proposals will be acknowledged immediately; if you do not receive acknowledgment within three days of sending your proposal, please resubmit. Applicants should expect to receive confirmation of acceptance or rejection by May 16, 2008.

CFP: Popular Print Culture (University of Alberta, 27-30 August 2008)

Doesn't mention comics, but definitely of interest. Also, see the website for "Wanted: Local Comics Book Artists!"

Call for Papers and Presentations
Continuities and Innovations:
Popular Print Cultures -- Past and Present, Local and Global
University of Alberta Edmonton
Alberta, Canada 27-30 August 2008

Papers and presentations are invited for any aspect of the conference theme. Proposals should be 200 to 300 words in length and clearly state the central theme or argument, the kind of popular print or related media to be considered, and its social and cultural location in time and place.

Please indicate any equipment requirements (data projector; conference computer; overhead projector; video or dvd player; audio player, etc). A brief resumé should accompany each proposal, stating the proposer’s name, address, contact information, and relevant academic, professional, or personal background and knowledge of form of popular print culture discussed.

Send proposals and resumés by email as pasted-in documents or attachments in an up-to-date format to: popprint [at] ualberta.ca. Or mail hard copies to:

Popprint
Kirsten MacLeod
Department of English and Film Studies
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada T6G 2E5

Questions to either address.

Deadline for proposals is 30 May 2008. But space on the program is limited, and proposals will be considered on a first-come, first-accommodated basis.

This conference and popular arts festival consider what most people read, here and elsewhere, now and in the past. Popular print characteristically includes both words and images, and is intertwined with music and performance. In these forms it has been and continues to be one of the most powerful cultural forces in history, morphing into new media and new technologies, from the phonograph record through radio, film, and television to video games and the internet.

Popular print culture is now a global phenomenon, with striking similarities in what most people read, anywhere. Yet there are also striking local differences, inflections, and variations in what most people read, here or elsewhere. "“Continuities and Innovations"” will bring together all those interested in popular print culture--readers and writers, publishers and fans, librarians and collectors, teachers and students, and of course researchers in many academic disciplines.

Proposals are invited from all of these groups, directly addressing the conference theme, or taking up any aspect of “"Popular Print Cultures, Past and Present, Local and Global."” Topics can include relations between popular print and other media, between popular and “"high”" literatures, between words and images, between words and music, between past and present forms, and so on. Presentations may be from writers, readers, publishers, teachers, students, distributors, sellers, librarians, illustrators, opponents, promoters, adapters to other media, fans, collectors, et al. Papers and presentations can be on any relevant topic— -- reading popular print and creating it, writing it and illustrating it, publishing it and selling it, counteracting it or transforming it, adapting it and influencing it, censoring it and living it, and more. Participants may consider popular print and politics, religion, sexuality, class, ethnicity, “"race,"” nationality, or any
other theme.

Google "“Edmonton Alberta"” and "“University of Alberta”" for information on the venue. Program and other information, including travel and accommodation details, regularly updated, will be available on the conference website: www.arts.ualberta.ca/popprint

SPLAT! A Graphic Novel Symposium (NYC, Saturday, March 15, 2008)

I just received this press release from the organizers of SPLAT! This looks to be a wide-ranging and informative event. Perhaps I'll see some of you there...

SPLAT! A Graphic Novel Symposium will take place on Saturday, March 15 at the New York Center of Independent Publishing (NYCIP) in Manhattan, with keynote speaker Scott McCloud. The NYCIP is a non-profit educational program (part of the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen) dedicated to promoting and supporting independent publishers across the United States.

We welcome writers, artists, publishers, agents, new readers and long-standing comics fans alike to learn more about the fastest growing movement in publishing and meet some of the best creators working in the medium today!

The SPLAT! Symposium will also supply prospective creators with a unique opportunity to learn what it takes to be a graphic novelist. There will be three different tracks of panels, seminars, and workshops, followed by the SPLAT! Reception with Scott McCloud.

The panels will be led by a number of key writers, editors and artists from the graphic novel world including: Jim Killen, buyer Barnes & Noble; David Saylor, Editor Scholastic; Raina Telgemeier, artist, The Baby-Sitters Club; Ted Rall, creator, Attitude: The New Subversive Political Cartoonists; CB Cebulski, writer/editor, Marvel Comics; Bob Mecoy, Founder, Bob Mecoy Literary Agency; R. Sikoryak, creator, The Seduction of Mike; Brian Wood, creator, Demo, DMZ and Local; Nick Bertozzi, creator, The Salon; and Charles Brownstein, executive director, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

Please visit www.nycip.org/graphicnovelsymposium to register for this unique event.

The Cartoon International Meeting [RIDEP] January 18-20, 2008 (Carquefou, France)

Posted by the courtesy of press agent Caroline Violot. This looks to be a wide-ranging and important event; readers in France are encouraged to attend!

9èmes Rencontres Internationales du Dessin de Presse (RIDEP)
Carquefou (44) les 18-19-20 janvier 2008

THE CARTOON INTERNATIONAL MEETING will be held in Carquefou (France close to Nantes) from January 18-20. It will feature twenty-five cartoonists, including Chinese cartoonists from Peking and nineteen cartoonists from France. Plantu will appear with his "Cartooning for Peace" exhibit, which was shown in ONU.

The meeting will speak about freedom of press and human rights with guests from Amnesty International, Reporters sans frontières [Reporters without Borders] and of cartoons with the FECO....

Click here for more information.

en français...

La Chine et les dessinateurs chinois à Carquefou
Pour leur 9ème édition les RIDEP prennent les couleurs de la Chine pendant 3 jours sur le site de la Fleuriaye à Carquefou (métropole nantaise).

Une délégation de dessinateurs fera le voyage spécialement de Chine avec Xia Li Chuan, qui a réalisé l'affiche des RIDEP 2008, et ses confrères Fu Hong Ge, Xia Da Chuan, Xu Pengfei, Zhang Yaoning, Zheng Wei Hua...

A travers leurs dessins les plus grands noms du dessin de presse chinois et français (Ricord, Plantu, Mulatier Frap, Dominique Lemarié, Chaunu, Biz, Million, Alex, Alexis, Thieboly,...) permettront à tous de décrypter les médias mais aussi la culture et les codes d'un pays au coeur de l'actualité internationale.

Un pays, un dessin, un message...
Abritant un cinquième de l'humanité, la Chine connaît de profonds bouleversements et un développement économique sans précédent. Mais à quel prix ? Censure, répression, crise écologique, économie sans régulation... les Droits de l'Homme et la liberté d'expression ne s'accordent pas toujours avec les réalités de la Chine d'aujourd'hui. Avec les dessinateurs qui dessineront la Chine et les chinois en toute liberté et en collaboration avec des experts de la Chine et du dessin de presse, nous apporterons un éclairage sur ce pays aux multiples facettes.

En route vers la Chine !
3 jours de rencontres et d'échanges uniques sous le trait de crayon des dessinateurs !

Au programme :

• Animations : films, jeux chinois, cérémonie du thé, calligraphie


• des expositions de photos (revue Mad in China par les journalistes et photographes du collectif Tendance Floue, photos du prix Niepce 2007 Bertrand Meunier), l’Exposition Dessins pour la Paix de Plantu, et le tour du monde de l’actualité avec plus de 250 dessins de presse exposés
  
• des conférences-débats sur des thématiques actuelles : le métier de dessinateur de presse, les droits humains en Chine, la liberté de la presse et les Jeux Olympiques à Pékin, la Chine à deux vitesses, une Chine verte pour demain ?

En collaboration avec plus de 25 dessinateurs, des journalistes, des photographes, des sinologues, Amnesty International et Reporters Sans Frontières, la FECO (Fédération des Organisations de Dessinateurs), Marianne, la FNAC, le CLEMI...

Contact Presse: Caroline Violot Communication, 06 22 72 17 47, 02 51 800 873, cviolot @ orange.fr

Publication: Essay on Peanuts Parodies

Delayed Notification Dep't: The academic journal Studies in American Humor published my essay "Chips Off the Ol' Blockhead: Evidence of Influence in Peanuts Parodies" a while back (New Series 3 no. 14 [2006]: 91-103). (Actually, I think the issue wasn't published until 2007, although I could be mistaken.)

Like this announcement, the piece itself is a bit dated, but still worth it (if I do say so myself). I originally wrote the essay at the request of my good friend and mentor M. Thomas Inge, for a special memorial session on Charles Schulz and Peanuts at the Modern Language Association's 2000 convention. I was honored to be asked and to be able to discuss my deep admiration for Peanuts in a public forum. And public it was: Given people's general love of Peanuts, and Schulz's then-recent passing, the panel attracted a standing-room-only crowd. Lots more people than this then-graduate student had ever addressed before!

The panel generated lots of discussion, both during and after. The New York Times even featured an article about the panel (Hey Mom, I'm in the Times, I've made it!). Sadly, not everyone thought the panel was appropriate for a scholarly venue; nevertheless, I proudly wear our condemnation by the "research group" Accuracy in Academia as a badge of honor ("Sanity MIA at MLA Panels").

Finally: Although I wouldn't have written this essay without Tom Inge's invitation, I never could have written this essay if it weren't for my younger brother John. When we were kids, he bought practically every Peanuts book ever offered by the Scholastic Book Club, the grade school kid's best friend. Thanks for letting me read all your books over chicken soup at lunch, bro!

CFP: Comics Conference on Sex, Gender, and Sexuality (University of Florida, 3/21-22/2008)

Just announced, and highly recommended:

The University of Florida's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is pleased to announce the 2008 UF Conference on Comics and Graphic Novels: "ImageSexT: Intersections of Sex, Gender, and Sexuality," which will be held in Gainesville, Florida, on March 21-22, 2008.

The sixth annual conference on comics will focus on issues of representation in the most literal sense: that of the image on the page (screen, monitor, etc.). We are interested in papers that move beyond facile reiterations of identity politics to explore the complexities and complexes of bodies and desires for artists, writers, and readers of comics. Here we are using "comics" in its broadest sense, to include animation, manga, anime, graphic novels, webcomics, political cartoons, and even some "fine art." Theoretically grounded work is preferred, but we also have an interest in archival, historical, and creative papers. The goal of this conference is to encourage interdisciplinary discussion incorporating diverse approaches to the comics representation of sex, gender, and sexuality.

Confirmed guests for this year include Phoebe Gloeckner (Diary of a Young Girl) and Gail Simone (Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman); invited guests include Jaime Hernandez (Love and Rockets).

Possible topics include but are not limited to:

• Autobiographical and authorial issues of sex and gender in comics, including issues of veiled autobiography, writing across gender lines, collaboration, and adaptation (Stuck Rubber Baby, Fun Home, The Authority, Fritz the Cat)
• Archival/historical work on depictions of the body, intercourse and identity including persistence and/or revision of stereotypes (Tijuana Bibles, Charles Atlas ads, homosexuality in early animation, Air Pirates Funnies)
• Who's drawing my body? Self- and Other-representations and culture wars (Goth comics, Superhero[ine] physiques, Dirty Plotte)
• Fans turn Pro (and vice versa): sex and gender issues at the boundary between and in the transition from fandom to professional comics (letters pages, undergrounds, fanzines, weblogs, fanfic, slash and doujinshi origins)
• Indeterminacy, including queer readings, secret identities, and the act of passing in and through comics (How Loathsome, Death Note, Black Hole, The Book of Lost Souls)
• "How ethics spoiled my pleasure": including how female fans read and enter comics, our implication in – and pleasure from – objectification, and the comic as part of a cultural circuit of capital and power (Girl-Wonder.org, Women in Refrigerators, Sequential Tart)
• The comic book fetish, including the materiality of the comic, the pleasure of reading, and "slabbing"
• The perversity of children's narratives (Strawberry Panic, Hikaru no Go, Lost Girls, Diary of a Young Girl)
• Politics and sex, including political allegory in comics, metaphors of otherness, and sex and censorship (V for Vendetta, Y the Last Man, Alias, Superfly)
• Representation and its necessary problems, from signifying male- or femaleness to figuring sex and desire, through drawings of bodies and acts, or depicting intimacy and pleasure (Diary of A Dominatrix, Clumsy, Playboy comics, [non-] explicit animation)
• International issues, including trade and censorship, translations, and taboos (scanlations, fansubbing, "official" translations, cross-cultural marketing and audiences)

Abstract submissions should be approximately 250-500 words in length. Presentations will be 15 minutes with 5 minutes of question and answer. The deadline for abstract submissions is December 1, 2007.

Image: UG Graphic Novel Conferences header, by Dylan Horrocks.

CFP: The Secret (And Not So Secret) Origins of Comic Books (NEMLA, April 10-13, 2008)

Received from William Duffy. For more information, email William. See also the NEMLA website.

The Secret (And Not So Secret) Origins of Comic Books
This panel seeks papers that analyze the relationship between the comic book genre and its literary, mythological, and historical influences. The issues that this panel hopes to address include, but are not limited to, the following: the motivations behind comic books' appropriation of characters and ideas from other genres, the ways in which these characters and ideas change to fit the needs of the comic form, and how being adapted to comic books affects the popular view of the source material. Please email 250-500 word abstracts (in an attachment) to wsduffy@buffalo.edu. Note: Deadline for abstracts is September 15, 2007.

CFP: International Comic Arts Forum (3/15/07; 10/18/07-10/20/07)

As I used to serve as Chair of this conference, I'm (more than a bit) biased, but ICAF is a wonderful conference, and attendees always gain a greater appreciation of comics from around the globe.

The Twelfth Annual
International Comic Arts Forum (ICAF)
October 18-20, 2007
The Library of Congress, James Madison Building, Washington, D.C.

The International Comic Arts Forum (formerly the International Comic Arts Festival) invites scholarly paper presentations for its twelfth annual meeting, to be held at the Madison Building of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., from Thursday, October 18, through Saturday, October 20, 2007. We welcome original proposals from a variety of disciplines and theoretical perspectives on any aspect of comics (including comic strips, comic books, albums, manga, graphic novels, political cartoons, other panel cartoons, caricature, or comics in electronic media), with a special interest in international comics. Proposals will be refereed via blind review.

PROPOSAL GUIDELINES
For its scholarly presentations, ICAF prefers argumentative, thesis-driven papers, clearly linked to larger critical, artistic, or cultural issues; we strive to avoid presentations that are merely summative or survey-like in character. We can only accept original papers that have not been presented or accepted for publication elsewhere. Presenters should assume an audience versed in comics and the fundamentals of comics studies. Where possible, papers should be illustrated by relevant images. In all cases, presentations should be timed to finish within the strict limit of TWENTY (20) MINUTES (roughly eight to nine typed, double-spaced pages).

Proposals should not exceed 300 WORDS. At the bottom of the proposal, the author should precisely state her/his audiovisual equipment needs.

AUDIOVISUAL EQUIPMENT: Our preferred format for the display of images is MS PowerPoint. Regretfully we cannot accommodate non-digital media such as transparencies, slides, or VHS tapes. Presenters should bring their PowerPoint or other electronic files on a CD or a USB key, not just on the hard drive of a portable computer. We cannot guarantee the compatibility of our equipment with presenters' individual laptops.

REVIEW PROCESS: All proposals will be subject to blind review by the ICAF Executive Committee, with preference given to proposals that observe the above standards. The final number of papers accepted will depend on the needs of the conference program. Due to increasing interest in the conference, in recent years ICAF has typically accepted only one-third to one-half of the proposals it has received.

SEND ABSTRACTS (with COMPLETE contact information) by March 15, 2007, to Prof. Cécile Danehy, ICAF Academic Coordinator, via email at <cdanehy@wheatoncollege.edu>.

Receipt of proposals is acknowledged immediately; if you do not receive acknowledgement within a few days of sending your proposal, please resubmit.

Applicants should expect to receive confirmation of acceptance or rejection by May 15, 2007.

Link

CFP: Classics and Comics (2/5/07; APA, 1/3/08-1/6/08)

The first of several comics-related calls for papers I'll be posting here today...

Classics and Comics
Outreach Panel Session at the American Philological Association
January 3-6, 2008; Chicago, Illinois

Proposals are invited for a special outreach panel on the topic of “Classics and Comics,” to be held at the annual meeting of the American Philological Association (APA) in January 2008. There are many examples of comics appropriating the classics for serious or comic purposes, including Frank Miller's 300, Neil Gaiman's Sandman, Messner-Loebs' Epicurus the Sage, van Lente's Action Philosophers, Shanower's Age of Bronze, Goscinny and Uderzo's /Asterix/ series. Since Classics Illustrated Comics' The Last Days of Pompeii in 1947, comics have been drawing (on) material from Greek and Roman myth, literature and history. At times the connection was cosmetic—as perhaps with Wonder Woman’'s Amazonian heritage —and at times it was almost irrelevant—as with Hercules’ starfaring adventures in the 1982 Marvel miniseries. But all of these make implicit or explicit claims about the place of Classics in modern literary culture.

The APA's committee on Outreach is dedicated to promoting a wider understanding and appreciation of Classics – Greek and Roman culture of the ancient world. Each year the Outreach Committee hosts one panel on a topic designed to attract an audience from outside the APA's traditional audience (students and faculty of Classics Departments in North America). This panel is open both to members of the APA and the general public and will be advertised in the Chicago area.

The comic book has been a major element of North American popular culture for over a century and has been increasingly regarded as a legitimate artistic and literary medium. This legitimization has happened on at least two fronts: through the emergence of the 'graphic novel' and through scholar/ practitioners such as Scott McCloud and Will Eisner attempting to define the relationship of the comic book to audience, artist and other artistic media. Yet to date there has been very little work attempting to integrate the medium into a larger understanding of Western artistic and literary culture.

The following is a list of possible topics that contributors might explore, though the organizers invite proposals for exciting and engaged papers that will reveal aspects of comics and their Classical sources from any disciplinary perspective that might be relevant to the overall theme:

• the depiction of myth or ancient history in comics
• visual representations of myth or history in ancient sources and in the comics format
• discussions of any specific use of the Classics in the comics medium
• the transformation of narrative structure between ancient source material and comics
• the appropriation of motif or character typology from Classical literature
• the synthesis of visual art and text in the ancient and modern worlds
• the effect of comics on modern perceptions of Greek and Roman material
• the influence of comics on other artistic media depicting Greek and Roman material
• the legitimization of comics as literature through the use of Classical material
• Classical narratives in Manga
• comparison of comics with other forms of 'low' culture in the ancient world

The organizers are also welcoming the participation of comics writers and artists.

Contingent to the success of the panel, the organizers may wish further to develop and publish the proceedings.

Papers will be 20 minutes in length; use of visuals (through PowerPoint) is expected.

Please forward a 400-word abstract, along with a brief biographical statement or CV, as email attachments in Word or Rich Text Format to both of the organizers:

George Kovacs (george.kovacs_at_utoronto.ca)
C.W. Marshall (toph_at_interchange.ubc.ca)

Further questions may also be addressed to either of the organizers.

Abstracts will be considered beginning February 5, 2007, until the panel is filled. Submissions are encouraged before that date.

Link

CFPs: Research Society for American Periodicals (ALA, 24-27 May 2007)

A set of Calls for Papers of potential interest to comics scholars. See also the RSAP's Resources for Research: Periodicals.

The Research Society for American Periodicals announces calls for papers for the American Literature Association annual meeting in Boston, May 24-27, 2007:

Contemporary Popular Magazines
The Research Society for American Periodicals invites proposals for a session on contemporary popular magazines. Topics may concern magazines individually or in categories (e.g., bridal, lifestyle, news), and may consider genres, departments, contributors, or editorial/textual practices. Please email a 250-word abstract along with a 2-3 sentence bio and any a/v equipment you might need to Judith Yaross Lee: leej@ohio.edu. Deadline for submissions is January 5, 2007.

19th Century Periodicals in Transatlantic Context
The extensive circulation of British periodicals in 19thC America and, especially later in the century, of American periodicals in Britain came to exert a profound influence on the development of the two nations. The Research Society for American Periodicals invites proposals dealing with any aspect of this subject, including individual periodicals, e.g. the Westminster Review; questions of shared concern, e.g. slavery/imperialism; cultural and literary influence, e.g. Punch and American humor; or individual writers, e.g. Henry James. Please email a 250-word abstract along with a 2-3 sentence bio to Robert J. Scholnick: rjscho@wm.edu.
Deadline 5 January, 2007.

Visual Culture in American Periodicals
The Research Society for American Periodicals invites proposals for a session on visual culture in American periodicals. Topics might include the development of illustrations in early periodicals, intertextual relations between verbal and visual texts, illustrators and writers as collaborators, reading advertisements, and cover art. Please email a one-paragraph abstract along with a 2-3 sentence bio and any a/v equipment you might need to Patricia Okker: okkerp@missouri.edu. Deadline for submissions is 5 January 2007.

CFP: Comics and Graphic Novels at New Jersey College English Association, 31 March 2007

Looks like it's academic "call for papers" season again!

COMICS AND GRAPHIC NOVELS
30th Annual New Jersey College English Association
Spring Conference
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ

Over the past twenty years, the "graphic novel" has become a mainstay -- if second-class citizen -- of the popular media. But can we say the form is properly understood when two of the most highly regarded "Graphic Novels" -- Spiegelman's Maus and Satrapi's Persepolis -- are not "novels" at all? This panel seeks papers challenging conventional perspectives of comics and graphic novels. Papers on all topics are welcome, but considerations of non-genre works are encouraged.

Presenters should consider delivering their work in a pedagogical manner, rather than simply reading papers. Visual and rhetorical aids (i.e., handouts, illustrations) are encouraged, as is sharing work with other panelists and distributing completed papers to the audience. For suggestions, see: de Jonge, Julie Stephens. "A Reflection on the Conference Paper Format and Ideas for Change." Modern Language Studies 35.2, 2006. 82-90.

Please send abstract and CV by Jan 2, 2007 to: Edward Shannon, Associate Professor of Literature, Ramapo College of NJ. eshannon@ramapo.edu

Edward A. Shannon, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Literature
Convener of Literature
School of American and International Studies
Ramapo College of New Jersey
505 Ramapo Valley Rd.
Mahwah, NJ 07430
(201) 684-7425 Phone
(201) 684-7973 Fax

CFP: Comics as Art, Entertainment and Design - Scotland, 25-26 May 2007

Just received this call for papers. Note the January 31 deadline for submissions.

Biff! Bam!! Crikey!!!
Comics as Art, Entertainment and Design
Comics are an important and vital part of popular culture, shaping the early reading experiences of many children, as well as commanding an increasing body of adult readers. They can offer slapstick fun or serious literary themes and have spread into every imaginable genre (comedy, horror, war, adventure, autobiography, documentary and so on). Comics therefore have the potential to be both popular entertainment and provocative art, and have a profound influence on various other media and art-forms, including film, animation, computer games, and television.

The Six Cities Design Festival and the University of Dundee are pleased to announce this international conference, to be held in Dundee on May 25th and 26th 2007. It will celebrate the history of comics in Dundee, but will also explore wider themes, including comics as art, popular culture and design.

Suggested topics include: comics in Scotland, British comics, the intersection of British and American comics, topical and controversial comics, defining comics, and comics and other media.

Dundee is the perfect venue for this conference as the comics of Dundee-based publisher DC Thomson are known all over the world, and 2007 marks the 70th anniversary of The Dandy, widely recognised as the world'€™s longest running comic. The Dundee programme will include the publication of a comic published by DC Thomson highlighting design and innovation in Dundee.

Papers will be 20 minutes long. Proposals of around 300 words should be sent to the address below by January 31st 2007. It is the intention that the conference proceedings will be published. For further information regarding the conference contact:

Dr Chris Murray
Department of English
162 Nethergate,
University of Dundee
DD1 4HN
UK

e-mail: c.murray@dundee.ac.uk
www.six-cities.com

CFP: Neil Gaiman, Comic Book Novelist

Another Call for Papers, this time just for one panel at a larger conference (the 2007 College English Association Conference). Note the close deadline for abstracts (November 1, 2006) and that they're looking for papers focused on Gaiman's novels.

"Neil Gaiman: Comic Book Novelist"
Special panel at the 2007 College English Association Conference
March 29-31, 2007
New Orleans, LA
Deadline for submission: November 1, 2006

Neil Gaiman was first noticed by literary scholars for his work in comic books and graphic novels. Several articles and anthologies have been written about his landmark comic series, Sandman, and about his graphic novels. In the past 10 years, though, Gaiman has gained prominence as a novelist. He has authored five novels (Neverwhere [1996], Stardust [1999], American Gods [2001], Coraline [2002], and Anansi Boys [2005]) and has co-authored one novel (Good Omens [1990] with Terry Pratchett). Nevertheless, Gaiman’s novels have received little attention by literary scholars. This panel seeks 10-15 minute papers that explore unexamined questions about Gaiman’s novels. Although this panel will be open to any subject regarding Gaiman’s novels, special areas of interest include:

• Theory of the fantastic
  
• Use of traditional formats in a postmodern world (e.g., American Gods as road novel, Stardust as pre-Tolkien fairy tale)
  
• Deities and faerie creatures as metaphors
  
• The interaction between reader and text/the real and the unreal
  
• Gaiman’s portrayal of America (broadly defined)/Gaiman’s portrayal of England
  
• Literary theories applied to Gaiman’s novels (e.g., psychological, feminist, reader-response, etc.)
  

Abstracts should be 200-500 words, and should be submitted by November 1 at the following website: http://english.ttu.edu/CEA/conftool/index.php

For more information, please visit the following website: http://www2.widener.edu/%7Ecea/conference2006.htm

Tim Peoples
Department of English
Texas State University-San Marcos
Email: tim@litterarius.com

Thanks to Kate for the tip!

Oh, I Wish I was in D.C. (ICAF and SPX)

What a weekend to be in the Washington, D.C. area! First up: Yesterday saw the start of the 11th annual International Comic Arts Festival, located at the Library of Congress and running through tomorrow. ICAF brings together scholars and cartoonists from the world over, this year featuring cartoonists like Jules Feiffer, Rupert Bazambanza, Ellen Yamshon, Phil Jiminez, and Denny O'Neil, and academic presentations and special events on topics as diverse as Cultural Exchanges in French Comics, Editorial Cartoons by Herb Block, step-by-step production of a mainstream US comic book (Firestorm), comic art concerning the Rawandan genocide, and much more.

I began attending ICAF from its 2nd meeting, joined its Executive Committee, and even Chaired the event in 1999 and 2000. In 2002 I had the great honor of interviewing Art Spiegelman at an evening program (as captured for posterity in The Comics Journal), an interview which will be published next year in a collection edited by Joseph Witek (Comic Book as History). I've not been able to attend the last two ICAFs, so I haven't had the opportunity to experience their new collaborations with the Library of Congress's Prints & Photographics Reading Room and especially its Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon. I miss the presentations, the discussions, and all of my ICAF friends. Next year, though, I hope!

Also in the area - well, actually in Bethesda, MD, but close enough to do both - SPX, the Small Press Expo, runs today and tomorrow. A comics convention for alternative / small-press - self-published comics, SPX offers a one-stop wonderland of print, from the most obscure mini-comics to the latest offerings from publishers like Drawn & Quarterly, Top Shelf, Fantagraphics, and of course many, many more. ICAF and SPX were partners for several years, so I often experienced the sensory overloads, wallet-draining, and Ignatz-Award ceremonies that are SPX. Now on its own again, SPX also offers programming and guests, this year including Megan Kelso, Ted Rall, Scott McCloud, Gabrielle Bell, and lots of others.

It's wonderful that these two events run simultaneously, but think of the tough choices to make! Well, maybe next year I'll have the opportunity to face these difficult decisions...

Comics as a Nexus of Culture: An Interdisciplinary Conference (25-27 May 2007, Germany)

Here's a Call for Papers I just recieved for what promises to be a wide-ranging conference. For more information, contact the conference organizer (details below).

Comics as a Nexus of Culture:
An Interdisciplinary Conference
25-27 May 2007
to be held at Pfalzakademie, Lambrecht, Germany

The comic can be seen as a central node in the network of contemporary culture. Comics have developed several distinctive national "schools" but they also display a strong inherent potential for international reception, which allows them to transcend cultural boundaries easily. In a very unique way, comics mediate between the culture of youths and the culture of adults, as well as between popular culture and high culture. Comics are also intermedial because they manifest themselves at the intersection of text, image, and sequence. They have often been shaped by the influence of various neighbouring media but they have also influenced other media. Comics thus present the unique chance to engage in a truly interdisciplinary discourse which brings together the distinctive approaches of various disciplines. An approach shaped by the distinctive characteristics of comics, on the other hand, has the potential to spark off new insight in the fields of the established disciplines.

For the proposed conference in May 2007, we therefore invite papers which look at the comic as a mediator between cultures and disciplines. European comics are planned to be a special focus of the conference but we are also happy to receive suggestions for papers which find their topic elsewhere. Ideas for panels and conference events in non-traditional formats are highly welcomed.

Areas of interest include but are not limited to the following:

• different styles in European comics
  intercultural connections between Europe and the rest of the world in comics
  
• the influence of comics on film and TV and vice versa
  
• literary influences on comics and the influence of the comic on literature
  
• the subversive cultural potential of comics
  
• comics in Academia: Comics studies as an academic discipline
  
• the meta-comic
  
• realism/anti-realism and comics

Please abstracts of proposed papers (ca. 200 words) by 15 December 2006 to:

Dr. Mark Berninger
Department of English and Linguistics
Johannes Gutenberg-Universitaet Mainz
berninger@anglistik.uni-mainz.de

2007 UF Conference on Comics - "World Building: Seriality and History"

Yesterday I received the call for papers for The University of Florida's 2007 Conference on Comics, so I thought I'd post it here. This will be the fifth comics conference hosted at UF; you can find information on previous years here. I had the pleasure of attending 2003's "Underground(s)" conference, so I know that attendees will learn quite a lot from both the scholars and the cartoonist-guests.

Here's the Call for Papers:

The University of Florida's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Department of English are pleased to announce the 2007 UF Conference on Comics: "World Building: Seriality and History," which will be held in Gainesville, Florida, on March 3-4, 2007, in conjunction with the annual Game and Digital Media Studies Conference, which will be March 1-2.

This fifth annual conference on comics will focus on the construction of narrative worlds in comics, with particular emphasis on the various temporalities of the medium. We are especially interested in the ways temporality informs the status of comics as a serial medium (both in terms of serial publication as well as the serialization of time within the page) and the ways temporality relates to the representation of history and memory within the narrative. This could be in terms of personal and social history, as in Maus and Persepolis, or in terms of internal narrative histories like superhero retcons and crossovers.

Our keynote speakers for this year include Jeff Smith (Bone), Bryan Talbot (The Tale of One Bad Rat, The Adventures of Luther Arkwright), Dylan Horrocks (Hicksville), and Gail Simone (Birds of Prey, Action Comics).

We also encourage submissions that cross over with the Game and Digital Media Studies conference, on the topic of "World Building: Space and Community," particularly those that consider the role of time and space across multiple media. We will also consider two-part submissions on related topics to be presented across the two conferences, and other proposals that push the formal constraints of a conference presentation.

Abstract submissions should be approximately 250-500 words in length. Presentations will be 15 minutes with 5 minutes of question and answer.

The deadline for abstract submissions is January 1st, 2007. Abstracts should be submitted via our online conference system, which is on the conference website at http://www.english.ufl.edu/worlds . Please direct all questions to sandifer@english.ufl.edu.

For a list of possible topics, please see the on-line call for papers. Actually, I've been kicking around some thoughts on this very topic lately; hmmmm. Maybe I'll see you there!

Image credit: World Building website.

Canada's "Conceptual Comics" & "Comic Craze"

The Canadian city Banff, in Alberta, sounds like a must-see destination for comics connoisseurs this summer - specifically, the exhibits and programming at the Banff Center's Walter Phillips Gallery.

First up: Conceptual Comics (April 27 - August 3), "a survey of over 50 books drawn from the inventory of Printed Matter, Inc., the artists' bookstore located in New York City." Consisting of artist's books that employ comics conventions, this one should be of interest to anyone interested in the formal aspects of comic art, particularly OuBaPo fans (en français ), as well as to book arts aficionados. Curator's tour Thursday, May 4, 7:00 p.m.

The other exhibit, "Comic Craze" (May 4 - September 3) focuses on French- and English-language comics from across Canada. Cartoonists include, among others, Marc Bell, Rupert Bottenberg, Shary Boyle, Chester Brown, Geneviève Castrée, David Collier, Rebecca Dart, Jeff Lemire, Billy Mavreas, Marc Ngui, Joe Ollman, Michel Rabagliati, Seth, Rick Trembles, and Maurice Vellekoop. This one appears to be pretty large, and conducive to reading, not just looking at, some great work:

For this exhibition, the Gallery is being transformed into a reading space. A black and white woodland forest, filled with luminous snails and hundreds of comic books, 'zines, and mini-comics accessible for on-site reading, is the stage for a unique experience in appreciating the visual and literary pleasure of reading comics.

Curator'’s Tour May 8, 6:00 p.m.; Opening Reception May 20, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.; Exhibition Tour July 7, 7:30 p.m.

In conjunction with this exhibit, the Banff Centre will host the Comic Craze Symposium from May 4 - May 6. The list of featured speakers includes artists, scholars, curators, publishers, and fans, so it promises to offer wide-ranging appeal. One particularly interesting feature, given the recents (and welcome!) spate of comics gallery exhibits, is a session on "Curating Comics," designed to "provide an opportunity to discuss and debate the strategies that are currently used to represent this field of visual culture."

Unless someone has some airfare to spare, we'd appreciate any and all visitor's reports on these events.

Above: "Between Gentlemen" (excerpt), Rupert Bottenberg, 2003. Extra-special mega-thanks to The Queen of Everything for letting me know about these shows!

Lynda Barry = Cruddy-est Funk Queen of the Universe, Ever

Whenever I have a pressing "To-Do List," I always seem to gravitate towards #2 on that list, not #1 - no matter how much I want to do #1.

#2 on my list right now - the thing the last few posts here have covered - is the revamping of ComicsResearch.org. But I do have another, more pressing issue. (OK, maybe I've got more than one "more pressing" issue at present, but I do what I can.)

But #1 - ahhhh, #1. For the Comic Art & Comics area of next week's annual meeting of the Popular Culture Association, I proposed an essay entitled "'Whenever Possible, Be the Unexpected': Approaches to Lynda Barry's Cruddy". If you haven't read Cruddy: An Illustrated Novel, but you love poetically written, well-characterized, unflichingly dark but absolutely hilarious fiction - and you have a strong stomach - Cruddy is your book, hands down.

Check out Cruddy's Amazon.com entry - you can read the first chapter or two there. Then read chapters four and five at the Simon & Schuster website. That'll give you a small taste of what's to come. (You don't even meet the cream of the character crop, the delightfully well-spoken "Suzy Homemaker," until about 2/3 of the way in.)

What's that? You don't know about the sublime cartooning genius of Lynda Barry? The creator of the #1 Poet, Fred Milton: Beat Poodle? Well, what are you waiting for?

OK, this post served its purpose; now I'm ready to get back to work on that essay!

Comics Studies at the University of Florida

In the last few years, the University of Florida has become a magnet for graduate studies in comic art. When you know that pioneering scholar Dr. Don Ault teaches there, this information isn't terribly surprising. Don's scholarly interests range from William Blake to Carl Barks, the "Good Duck Artist" who is best known for bringing life to Scrooge McDuck in Disney comic books. (Here's one of Don's articles, encompassing both Blake and Barks!) Florida also hosts a yearly conference on comics and now hosts the Comics Scholars' Discussion List.

Don is quoted today in an article on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln library's new comics collection, where he briefly discusses the growth of comics scholarship. He also drops this tidbit about comics studies in his own backyard:

[T]he University of Florida has more students applying for post-graduate work in comic books than any other field this year.

This statistic is great news for the field, and is a tribute to all of the hard work and dedication put forth by Don and his host of graduate students.